Boxer. World Featherweight Champion. He started boxing at the age of eleven, and in 1954 joined the gym opened by the former European welterweight champion, Eddie Thomas. He won three Welsh schools titles, and one British. After leaving school he worked at a toy factory where, in 1956, tragedy struck when his right hand was crushed by a power press. The resultant injuries left him with without the tips of three of his fingers and inevitably reduced punching power. This initially appeared to be the end of his serious boxing days, however with Thomas's guidance aligned to his own speed and skill he developed his ring craft and became a subtle and deft combatant. His nickname ‘The Welsh Wizard' was testament to his fast hands and dexterity. In 1958 he won the Amateur Boxing Association's bantamweight championship and then took the gold medal at the same weight in the British Empire and Commonwealth Games. He turned professional after recording 79 wins in 81 fights as an amateur. In May 1961 he defeated Terry Spinks, a 1956 Olympic gold medallist to claim the British featherweight title. He then gained two Lonsdale belts in record time before, in July 1963, becoming European Featherweight champion by defeating Italy's Alberto Sarti. Although he suffered setbacks with defeats at the hands of the Americans Leroy Jeffrey and Don Johnson he had his sights set on the world featherweight title held by Vicente Saldivar of Mexico. The two were to fight three times between 1965 and 1967. Saldivar was a powerful and resilient champion and although the fights were close he edged the decision in each of the contests. Saldivar generously acknowledged that the margins between them were so small that there could easily have been two World Champions. When Saldivar surprisingly announced his retirement at the age of just 24 the title became vacant and on 23rd January 1968, at the Albert Hall in London, Winstone defeated Mitsunori Seki of Japan in nine rounds to finally take the World Featherweight crown. It was to be a short reign as champion. His first defence was against the Cuban boxer, Jose Legra, whom he had defeated on points three years earlier. On this occasion though Legra was a different proposition and knocked Winstone down twice in the opening round before the referee Harry Gibbs stopped the fight in the fifth with Winstone barely able to see out his left eye. This defeat ushered him in to retirement and he never fought again. Winstone was widely regarded as a superb ring technician, with perhaps the lack of a knockout punch holding him back from even greater success. Winstone was awarded the M.B.E. shortly after retiring. He was a popular man and as a son of Merthyr Tydfil, an industrial town with a great pugilistic tradition, his passing was met with great sadness. His funeral at St Tydfil's parish church was a huge occasion with an estimated 6,000 people paying their respects. A statue was later erected in St Tydfil's Square in Merthyr in his honour. Winstone's reward for winning the world title had been a small commemorative plaque. However in July 2010 at the premier of the feature film Risen, based on his life story, the World Boxing Council vice president Mauricio Sulaiman presented the Winstone family with a WBC championship belt. Winstone was never beaten by a British or European fighter and finished with a professional career record of 67 fights (five for world titles) 61 wins (27 within the distance) and 6 defeats.